Country music star Jackson Dean to return home for benefit concert at Arundel High School
Jackson Dean, a country music star and Arundel High alumnus, will have a full-circle moment this weekend with a homecoming to headline a benefit concert at his alma mater.
On Saturday, May 23, Dean will perform at the "Arundel Bands Together," an inaugural charity music festival at Arundel High School, benefiting the school's music department.
"Just to have that level of talent come from the school and be willing to give back, we thought it would be a really great way to raise money for the program," said Ian Burns, the music department chair at Arundel High School.
Information and tickets to Arundel Bands Together here.
Jackson Dean's rise to fame
In 2018, a video of Dean singing the national anthem at an Arundel High School football game went viral, helping launch him into the national spotlight with tours, hit singles, and millions of listeners.
This weekend, he is coming back to Gambrills.
"It's going to be a little surreal," Dean told CBS News Baltimore. "This show feels a little bit different."
Ian Burns was Dean's guitar teacher while he attended Arundel High. He said Dean's journey is something he hopes current students can see themselves in.
"Jackson sat here not too long ago and now is off and touring, and we can set you up for that too," Burns said.
Inspiring the youth at Arundel High
Students say Dean's success is inspiring.
"I can see that I can potentially become someone like him," senior music student Miguel Maldonado said.
"We know that if we work hard, there's a future in the performing arts," said Clare Vache, a sophomore choral and theater student at Arundel High School.
Burns said the music department takes students' dreams seriously, and students say that support gives them confidence.
"I feel like with the help of all the directors, I've just grown a lot as a person as well, not even just as a musician," sophomore music student McKoy Bellamy said.
Dean said support for the arts in Anne Arundel County helped shape his career.
"The support for art in our area is, it's not like that everywhere else," Dean said. "There are so many competitions going on year-round for band, choir, so much theater, we can't let that die. We just can't."
Dean said giving back to the program and community that helped inspire him was important.
"To get to come back and play a badass show that I've been taking anywhere and everywhere across the planet and also to give back to what gave me so much drive to go those places is really awesome," Dean said.
